Getting Lost in a Country where we can't say anything

 Today we started our day 0 stuff, like intros, scouting for locations, dancing for promos, etc. Our first stop was the Parliament building which is located across the street from the Austrian Imperial Palace. I saw this statue and thought it was funny because it looks like he's punching horse but I know that he probably had reins in his hands back in the day.

 The parliament building was huge and beautiful and damn it, we didn't have time to go inside. I did get some nice exterior shots and the crew got some nice B roll so I'll be able to look at it in a later life I guess.

 Since it's cold, none of the fountains are on. I would definitely try to come back to Vienna in the spring or summer only. The Parliament building is guarded by Athena. Pretty lass!

 I also liked this poor gargoyle. Check out the petina!

 And the base of the Athena statue. I will definitely be back. I will also be back to see the Spanish Riding School horses and to see a Mozart concert. My group couldn't be swayed into going to a concert as standing room was 23 euros a person. Alas, I'll go with Aaron when we come here.

 Oh and here's the Austrian Imperial Palace, the site of our masked ball on the 3rd of March. Amazing! I can't believe I get to do this!

Here's the riding school. We passed by some horse stables and I saw one with a long face…(haha) and named him 'Hans' and made a whole back story. Hans is a sad depressed horse because his stable faces away from the tourists, he's 3rd chorus horse from the back right, and he doesn't get as many oats as the other horses.

Lainey, myself, and Marcus then split up from the boys so we could film ourselves trying on dresses for the ball. They were seriously the most expensive dresses we've ever tried on. I wanted to try on a tangerine one that was mermaid style but it was €10,000! No joke! The lady asked me what our budgets were and I quickly said "we don't have a budget. Our boyfriends just told us to pick dresses out!" It was really nice to be girls again and just try expensive things on. The boys went to get tuxes. After dresses, we headed back to the train and got lost. We didn't know how to get home, where we lived, or eve what district we lived in. Lainey gave Jonathan a nice talking to when we finally got home.

Goodbye Barcelona, Hello Vienna!

 Yawn, we woke up super early for our flight to Barcelona and when the taxi arrived, we were surprised to find that it was a 6 seater van with just enough trunk space for HALF our bags. Everyone brought HUGE bags. But Lainey and I saw that if we shoved ourselves into the back bench seat and put bags around and on top of us, we'd all fit. We were SQUISHED, but we DID fit in 1 taxi! yeah us and teamwork!

 The airport in Barcelona, by the way, is one of the cleanest ever! The crew got McDonalds and I made Brian get the tomato spread bread thing. It was not good. BUT I was happy to try it since it's not something we have in the states. Also, I got potato wedges again. Why do they not have them in Mericuh!? Our flight was uneventful and most of the cast slept.

Check out Lainey with her $40 neck brace….I mean, travel pillow.

 We arrived in Vienna and were so happy to see a nice apartment. 2 bedrooms and a pullout couch in the living room. There's natural light in here and even 2 full length mirrors. The bathroom is spacious and the kitchen has windows for ventilation. Also, we're close to a market.We went looking for food, but had some trouble as Lainey is super sensitive to smoke and it's legal to light up anywhere here. When we did find a place, I couldn't read a thing on the menu so I played ultimate food roulette. Seriously, I could only read risotto on this menu, but opted for the "Karadjordjeva" and I knew NOTHING about what it was, except that it was a type of schnitzel. It was heavenly; a long tube schnitzel with sour cream sauce that would fall out when you cut into it. The boys all agreed that mine was the best of the gambles.

 The cast also talked it out about what was expected of this episode and what the crew wanted to see us accomplish in this city. I hope we don't disappoint.

Intros to Barcelona, and our first performance for teachers

This morning we were busy. Early morning call, followed by running off to Montjuic to do our intros. Lainey did hers in front of the castle, I did mine in front of the ocean, and Ben did his with a view of Barcelona in the background. It was a lot of fun to get the lines out of the way. It's been pretty off the cuff, not getting the lines until maybe 12 hours before the shoot. I've never felt really strong at memorizing film lines so quick. Film has always scared me, but at least the camera guys are telling me that I take the least amount of time out of everyone to say my lines. Then again, they could be lying. 

We then walked down the huge hill to the Art museum of Catalonia and did our promo shoot for Tobin James wine and even got to drink some on the steps nearby. Also, we got to do some lindy hopping! Yeah, swing dancing! This was also the birthplace of my new iPhone talk show; Magical Moments with Stina. (Get out of my shot!)

 Ben and I get paired together more often than not. I would say maybe 75% of the time, we are paired together. It's a natural thing for us, both of us being the "taller" of our types. It's actually quite ridiculous watching Lainey and Ben dance anything other than lindy together. Quite comical!

 We then walked down to the museum to do some walk through intros, see the Font Magica, and prep for our performance of flamenco. I saw a street musician and danced for him. It was very fun and I really had to feel what he was playing, though I didn't do that well.

 I wish I had my sketchbook here for this trip, as most of the naked ladies are GORGEOUS! This one in particular on the steps between the museum and the fountain was breathtaking. I didn't get  a shot of her backside, but her butt was flabby and wide, and it looked like a real butt. Not a model butt.

 I had to get a Font Magica picture. Just like Paris!

 And here's the fountain in all its glory! It was really overcast at times and I'm sad that I didn't get any blue sky!

Aren't all the colors fabulous?! I loved how many fountains were in this one park! Jonathan was supposed to do his intro in front of these steps but we ran out of time. He'll have to do it tomorrow morning before we leave for the airport. Lainey got some chocolate churros here as well.

Everywhere you look in Barcelona, there's beautiful art in the form of fountains! Seriously! We went to the dance studio and got our last 2 hour rehearsal. We were all BEAT! Tired! We "performed" for the two teachers and though we messed up, I can't be mad with our attempt as flamenco is HARD stuff. I also think  Jonathan was 'most improved' from day 1. Tomorrow we leave Spain and head for Vienna! Vienna waits for you!

Day 2 of Flamenco and I feel SEXY!

 I started doing my hair differently in Spain to just get a different feel, and while I LOVE this hairstyle, it's actually the one I want to use in Vienna. I took it down right after this shot and put it into a braid to be more like the flamenco dancer! Aren't you impressed with my hair though?! I did this without a back  mirror!

 This is the street we walk down towards the school everyday. Pretty no?

 And I saw this little cutie too. He looks like a Sanrio character.

 We spent 2 hours today doing recaps, just dancing without teachers. I danced in my toms the whole time. I did not want to dance in my flamenco shoes until I HAD to. We reviewed everything and I could definitely see improvements all around. We got to have a 2 hour break for lunch and to regroup before returning to the studio to dance again.

 The teachers went over all the stuff we did yesterday, plus a couple new things. I was more prepared, bringing socks to dance in. I felt like I looked more like a dancer today! Yeah me! They gave us more arm movements, and this time, I focused MAINLY on upper body, trying to feel "SPANISH" and to my surprise, I really DID feel Spanish! Maybe it was the braid!

I mean, c'mon! Look at my butt! I never knew I had a bubble butt! Marcus said he didn't mean to take a pervy shot but I'm so happy to see this! Baboom!

After we left, we returned home, had dinner, and the whole cast minus me went swing dancing while I stayed behind to work on lines for tomorrow!

New Dance Shoes and My Toenails are SCREAMING!

This morning, we all went on a trip to the Ramblas, the downtown area of Barcelona, in search of flamenco shoes. After watching the show last night, it was very apparent that these shoes are different from my character heels and I want to use my knees for the rest of my life, so this purchase was necessary!

On the way there, the whole town is decorated with Gaudi works! Look at the architecture! Everything is tiled and gorgeous. If I get another chance to come here, I'm going to this museum. I'm also going to check out the Picasso museum. 

The shoes were gorgeous! I wanted them all. I was so happy to hear that the saleswoman spoke no English, but she DID speak French! So I was the interpreter for the whole group. Yeah me!

And check out the bottoms of my shoes! They have nails in the toes and feet. THAT'S how they get those crazy clacks and clicks! I was afraid that Aaron would be upset that I bought such an expensive purchase, but was quite chipper and said that they were a great souvenir for Spain! 

The Ramblas was fun! Lots of shops and things to see. Again, I hope to come back and explore with Aaron.

I saw a fountain in this area of town and I loved all the lady statues. If I had charcoal, I would've sketched them. 

This poor lady had bird poop all over her face. So sad. But she was still pretty. She deserved a photo, don't you think?

 We then headed to Flamenco class. OMG my feet hurt so bad! The boys were wearing heels as high as ours! The first teacher(the male, must learn his name) was so fantastic! His footwork was so on pointe! And he was sexy! I couldn't really understand him though. The stomping is much more specific than just STOMPING. It's more of a dig from behind, almost in the way a bull charges its feet in cartoons.

 Here's the dance space. After 2 hours of learning from both him and the Flamenco performer from last night, everyone's beat and tired. We saw this pretty clock tower at night. Dinner was simple and the camera crew and I went nuts over desserts. One of our producers arrived tonight and is staying in mine and Lainey's room.

Photoshoot day with BRANDY!

 This morning we got up SUPER early for us, sometime between 6:30 and 6:45. Everyone was prepping to go do a photo shoot in Park Guell. I was struggling with my hair so Lainey did it. The good thing about someone else doing your hair is that you get to see how they'd style it as opposed to you. I loved it.

 When we got to Park Guell, it had only been open for 20 minutes so it was pretty much deserted, something that Lainey kept reminding us.

 Like this lizard. She freaked out when she saw this lizard. Apparently, getting photos of it with no one else around is near impossible.

 We did all kinds of dance poses and lifts for pictures. I got to try a lot of new stuff which was awesome, having 3 teachers around to tell me what I was doing wrong. Its true what they say about flying; once you start, you never want to stop. Now I'm determined to learn more steps.

 My best friend from kindergarten showed up to hang out all day. She moved to Madrid a couple years ago and is now pretty much fluent, so she was our tour guide and translator, even though it's not her city. It was amazing to see her! The whole gang really liked her being around.

 We then left Park Guell for lunch and buying post cards. The gingerbread houses were beautiful and as Brandy described them, Gaudi had intended the park to be a private set of houses, but he lost funding and never completed the whole thing. And now it's an art park!

 We also came across a church where a band was playing live music in the sun. There were tons of old people holding hands in a circle and dancing a choreographed dance. Lainey and I tried to join in, but as soon as we jumped in, we were yelled at, like "no no!" We later learned that this particular day of dancing was the only day a year where the old people dance this particular dance in this particular spot. How embarrassing!

 Here's the camera boys working! I love them. They're the best and I feel like they are training me to be a better "modeler". I can't tell you how many times I heard "Stina, open your eyes" during the photo shoot today!

 Barcelona actually reminds me a lot of Bern. I saw this little emblem on a light post and it reminded me of the painted bears everywhere. So far, this city is SO colorful, and I wish I was here during the spring/summer.

We finished up our photo shoot near this arch and even got some crowds while doing some lindy. I have a feeling we looked really good, thanks to Marcus and Brian. Brandy had to leave us so we said goodbye and I cried! Everyone was a little shocked I think, that I would just break down in a hug, but Brandy and I go way back. 23 years back in fact. She was my first friend in Paso Robles and we're all grown up now. She works as a blogger in Europe, I'm married and shooting a reality tv show. 

The group finished off the night by attending a flamenco show with the talent. She was fantastic! The tenor singing and clapping was equally amazing! I'm definitely a little intimidated but excited to see that I recognize a lot of steps as tap. We shall see tomorrow!